U.S. patent number 7,457,400 [Application Number 10/787,978] was granted by the patent office on 2008-11-25 for computerized system and method for displaying line usage reports.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Embarq Holdings Company, LLC. Invention is credited to Lyndon Casey, Jeffrey M. Fries.
United States Patent |
7,457,400 |
Fries , et al. |
November 25, 2008 |
Computerized system and method for displaying line usage
reports
Abstract
The present invention relates to a user interface for
communicating line usage information. The user interface includes
means for requesting type of report of line usage information and
means for requesting report criteria. The user interface further
includes means for displaying a line usage report based on the
report criteria and requested type of report. The present invention
also relates to a method for communicating line usage information
to a user is described. The method: prompts a user to enter a type
of report of line usage information and to enter report criteria.
The method then displays a corresponding line usage report.
Inventors: |
Fries; Jeffrey M. (Wake Forest,
NC), Casey; Lyndon (Grand Island, FL) |
Assignee: |
Embarq Holdings Company, LLC
(Overland Park, KS)
|
Family
ID: |
40029526 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/787,978 |
Filed: |
February 26, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
379/112.08;
379/112.01; 379/112.06; 379/133 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L
67/36 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04M
15/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;379/32.01,32.02,32.04,112.01,112.03,112.06,112.07,112.08,133,134,136,138 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Tran; Quoc D
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal
LLP
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A method in a computerized environment for communicating line
unit usage information to a user, the method comprising: prompting
the user to enter a type of report of line unit usage information
collected from at least one line unit, wherein each line unit is
associated with a switch module and includes a grouping of a
plurality of communication lines, and wherein a plurality of switch
modules comprise a central office; prompting the user to enter
report criteria, wherein the report criteria comprises a
user-specified time interval for which a line unit usage report is
to be generated; and displaying a line unit usage report based on
the report criteria and requested type of report, wherein data in
the line usage report is derived from a relational database
component, wherein the relational database component is configured
to access a structural database component containing a current
layout of the switch module and the at least one line unit
associated with the switch module, and wherein the relational
database is further configured to organize the data in the line
usage report according to the current layout.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of report is a line unit
performance report.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the line unit performance report
displays line unit usage information by switch modules and line
units for one or more central offices.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: displaying load
balance activity associated with equipment in the line unit
performance report.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of report is a blockage
report.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the blockage report displays the
number of line units in a telecommunications network blocked per
period of time per region.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of report is a
management report.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the management report displays
the number of line units blocked per a period of time per
region.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is computer-executable
instructions for performing the method on one or more computer
readable media.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the criteria comprise one or
more of geographic location, region, company, state, office, switch
module, and line unit.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: prompting the user
to enter a user name and password.
12. A user interface for communicating line unit usage information,
the interface comprising: means for obtaining a type of report of
line unit usage information collected from at least one line unit,
wherein each line unit is associated with a switch module and
includes a grouping of a plurality of communication lines, and
wherein a plurality of switch modules comprise a central office;
means for obtaining report criteria, wherein the report criteria
comprises a user-specified time interval for which a line unit
usage report is to be generated; and means for displaying a line
unit usage report based on the report criteria and type of report
obtained, wherein data in the line usage report is derived from a
relational database component, wherein the relational database
component is configured to access a structural database component
containing a current layout of the switch module and the at least
one line unit associated with the switch module, and wherein the
relational database is further configured to organize the data in
the line usage report according to the current layout.
13. The user interface of claim 12, wherein the type of report is a
line unit performance report.
14. The user interface of claim 13, wherein the line unit
performance report displays line usage information by switch
modules and line units for one or more central offices.
15. The user interface of claim 14, further comprising: means for
displaying load balance activity associated with equipment in the
line unit performance report.
16. The user interface of claim 12, wherein type of report is a
blockage report that displays the number of line units in a
telecommunications network blocked per period of time per
region.
17. The user interface of claim 12, wherein the type of report is a
management report that displays the number of line units blocked
per a period of time per region.
18. The user interface of claim 12, wherein the criteria comprise
one or more of a geographic location, region, company, state,
office, switch module, and line.
19. A system for communicating line unit usage reports to a user,
the system comprising: an obtaining component for obtaining report
criteria and one or more types of line unit usage reports including
information collected from at least one line unit to be displayed,
wherein each line unit is associated with a switch module and
includes a grouping of a plurality of communication lines, and
wherein a plurality of switch modules comprise a central office,
and wherein the report criteria comprises a user-specified time
interval for which a line unit usage report is to be generated; and
a report display component for displaying one or more line unit
usage reports based on the report criteria and requested type of
report, wherein data in the line usage report is derived from a
relational database component, wherein the relational database
component is configured to access a structural database component
containing a current layout of the switch module and the at least
one line unit associated with the switch module, and wherein the
relational database is further configured to organize the data in
the line usage report according to the current layout.
20. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a load balance
display component for displaying load balance activity associated
with equipment in the line usage report.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein the obtaining component obtains
the report criteria and one or more types of line usage reports to
be displayed from another system.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein the obtaining component
receives the report criteria and one or more types of line usage
reports to be displayed from a user.
23. The system of claim 19, wherein the obtaining component prompts
the user to enter report criteria and one or more types of line
usage reports to be displayed.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer
software. More particularly, the invention relates to a
computerized tool and method for universal line management.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Telecommunication networks start at the local level with a
telephone or communication line that runs from a home or business.
An exemplary telephone telecommunications system is shown in FIG.
1. Telephone lines are grouped to make a line unit 106. There are
multiple line units 106 for each switch module 104. The switch
modules 104 make a switching system 103 for a central office 102. A
telephone call is transferred from the telecommunications line to a
switch module 104 of central office 102 and is directed to the
proper destination. There may be multiple central offices 102 in
one region of a telecommunications network. Furthermore, there may
be multiple regions in a national telecommunications network.
Due to increased telephone and Internet dial-up usage, the number
of calls on certain equipment has greatly increased lines to become
overloaded and this results in failed call attempts. As a result,
certain line units may be plagued with chronic call failure and
poor service quality. However, it is difficult to determine which
line units are overloaded and need additional equipment to handle
the call volume.
One method of determining whether equipment limitations have been
exceeded is to manually search line units one at a time determine
if the equipment in place is adequate for the call volume. This
method is time consuming, expensive and requires a large amount of
personnel. Furthermore, by the time the process is completed,
traffic volumes may have changed and the information gathered is
outdated.
Another method used to try to solve this problem is a "HOT SPOT"
report sold by Lucent Technologies, Inc. The "HOT SPOT" report is a
print out and snapshot view of the performance of line units for a
particular switch module at the time the report is run. The
drawback of the report is that it does not include line usage
information for more than one point in time. Rather, the report
receives information regarding line usage information only at one
point and time, does not provide detailed information and does not
give a picture of what the traffic volume is like at different
times of day or even different seasons. The report does not allow
for the results to be updated at any reasonable frequency. These
reports provided limited line usage information and do not provide
any line usage information about an overall region or on a national
level for use by managers. Furthermore, these types of reports are
limited and options are not available. It is not possible for a
user to specify the type of report they would like to view.
New equipment is added to a telecommunications network it is not
reflected in these "HOT SPOT" reports because the structure or
layout of the network is only updated on a yearly basis. Thus, the
reports do not reflect newly added or removed equipment.
A system and method for continuously collecting and monitoring line
usage information and generating line usage reports based on the
line usage information would be advantageous. A system and method
for documenting newly added or removed equipment in a
telecommunications that is updated on a regular basis would also be
advantageous. Furthermore, allowing a user or other system to
select a report type and report criteria to generate a line usage
report would also be advantageous.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to the field of computer
software.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a user interface
for communicating line usage information is described. The user
interface includes means for requesting type of report of line
usage information and means for requesting report criteria. The
user interface further includes means for displaying a line usage
report based on the report criteria and requested type of
report.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for
communicating line usage information to a user is described. The
method: prompts a user to enter a type of report of line usage
information and to enter report criteria. The method then displays
a corresponding line usage report.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a system for
communicating line usage reports to a user is described. The system
includes an obtaining component for obtaining report criteria and
one or more types of line usage reports to be displayed and a
report display component for displaying one or more line usage
reports based on the report criteria and requested type of
report.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention is described in detail below with reference
to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary telephone switching
system;
FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a universal line usage information
collection tool in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a universal line usage information
reporting tool in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 3A is a flow diagram of a method for collecting and storing
line usage information in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 3B is a flow diagram of generating reports of line usage
information in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method for displaying reports of line
usage information;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary universal line usage
information details tool;
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for displaying line unit
performance details in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary line load balance
maintenance entry tool;
FIG. 8 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary user log-in
screen;
FIG. 9 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary report type
choice screen;
FIG. 10 is a screen shot illustrating exemplary display of report
criteria;
FIG. 11 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary line unit
performance report;
FIG. 12 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary line unit load
balance report;
FIG. 13 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary line unit
performance details report;
FIG. 14 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary line unit count
blockage report;
FIG. 15 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary consecutive week
blockage report;
FIG. 16 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary load balance
remark table for maintenance information; and
FIGS. 17-18 are screen shots illustrating exemplary load balance
inquiry displays.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a computerized tool and method for
universal line management. In one embodiment of the present
invention a universal line usage information collection tool is
described. Line usage information is collected to monitor and
manage the performance of line units of switch modules. In another
embodiment, a universal line usage-reporting tool or system is
described.
The present invention also relates to a system and method for
displaying detailed line usage information. In another embodiment
of the present invention, a system and method for updating
equipment in a telecommunications network is provided. Another
embodiment of the present invention relates to a user interface. In
still another embodiment, a system and method for updating the
structure of a telecommunications system is described.
Various telecom technical terms are used throughout this
disclosure. A definition of such terms may be found in: H. Newton,
Newton's Telecom Dictionary, 18.sup.th Updated and Expanded Edition
(2002). These definitions are intended to provide clearer
understanding of the ideas disclosed herein and are in no way
intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The
definitions and terms should be interpreted broadly and liberally
to the extent allowed by the art and the meaning of the words
offered in the above-cited reference.
With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary telecommunications network
100 is provided. A telecommunications network is an assembly of
equipment arranged to establish connection between communication
lines. A switching system 103 is provided for central office 102.
As can be seen in FIG. 1 multiple switch modules 104 make up the
switching system 103. Furthermore, there are multiple line units
106 for each switch module 104. A telephone call is transferred via
a telecommunications line to a switch module 104 of central office
102 and is directed to the proper destination.
One of skill in the art will appreciate that that any type or
number of switch modules or switches may be used for
telecommunications network of the present invention. One of skill
in the art will also appreciate that there are any variety of ways
to set up a telecommunications network. Examples of switch modules
that may be used include, but are not limited to, 5-ESS switch
modules by Lucent Technologies and Media Gateway 9000 (MG9K) system
by Nortel. The tool and method of the present invention is capable
of being used with any switch module, switch type, circuit
switches, interface components and equipment used in a
telecommunications network.
System and Method for Collecting and Storing Universal Line Usage
Information
With reference to FIG. 2A, in the first embodiment of the present
invention a universal line usage information collection tool 200 is
shown. The universal line usage information collection tool
includes a data collection component 202, a relational database
component 208 and a structural database component 210. The data
collection component 202 receives line usage information from a
telecommunications network. The line usage information may include,
but is not limited to, usage information regarding equipment in a
switching system, such as line units and switch modules.
Types of line usage information include, the percent overflow,
usage information, current utilization percentage, network element,
traffic element, hour the highest blockage occurred, the number of
calls per piece of equipment, overflow information, number of
working lines, equipped lines, wired lines and any information
regarding the time, use or amount one or more items of equipment in
telecommunications network are utilized. The data collection
component 202 is capable of receiving line usage information for
equipment in a national telecommunications network or at a regional
or local level.
The data collection component 202 accesses information from the
hardware/equipment in a telecommunications network and converts it
to a readable form to be recorded. On example of a data collection
component 202 is a centralized data collection (CDC). The CDC
collects line usage information for equipment in a
telecommunications network. The line usage information collected by
the CDC is text associated with Common Language Location
Identifiers (CLLI). CLLIs identify the location where the line
usage information has originated.
The structural database component 210 contains information
regarding the current telecommunications structure. For example,
the structural database component 210 tracks the number of lines
per line unit, the line units per switch module and what phone
numbers have been assigned to what customers. The structural
database component 210 contains the layout of equipment in a
telecommunications network.
An example of the structural database component 210 is CODARS.
CODARS tracks and provides telephone numbers for assignment to
customers. CODARS also tracks custom calling features and message
line information. CODARS also contains information regarding the
layout and assignment of working lines, line units, telephone
numbers and information regarding what lines and line units are
connected to switch modules.
The relational database component 208 accesses structural
information regarding the structure of equipment in the
telecommunications network, such as the layout of switch modules
and line units, from structural database component 210. The
relational database component 208 reads the information collected
by the data collection component 202 for line usage information
that corresponds to certain equipment in the telecommunications
network. For example, the structural database component 202
provides information to the relational database component 208 of
the layout of the telecommunications network of state, region, host
CLLI, line group and equipped/wired/working lines for the line
group.
The relational database component uses the appropriate CLLI code
information and corresponding line usage information from the data
collection component to fill in the line usage information for the
corresponding piece of equipment accessed from the structural
database component. In other words, the relational database
component 208 organizes the line usage information according to the
layout of the equipment accessed from the structural database
component 210 and in a format that the information may be used to
generate line usage reports. An exemplary relational database 208
is shown in Table 1 below. The table shows the information
collected by the database component 210 organized based on the
structural information from the structural database component
210.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 CDST 2 TEXT(`STATE`) CDWRC 4 TEXT(`WIRE
CENTER`) CDOFFC 5 TEXT(`OFFICE`) CDLGRP 20 TEXT(`LINE GROUP`)
CDRCLI 11 TEXT(`REMOTE CLLI CODE`) CDRPDT 8 TEXT(`REPORT DAILY DATE
- YYYYMMDD`) CDROFN 20 TEXT(`REMOTE OFFICE NAME`) CDREGN 4
TEXT(`REGION`) CDCOMP 2 TEXT(`COMPANY CODE`) CDHCLI 11 TEXT(`HOST
CLLI CODE`) CDTUED 8 TEXT(`TUESDAY DATE`) CDSM 2 TEXT(`SWITCH
MODULE`) CDLU 2 TEXT(`LINE UNIT`) CDNWRK 10 TEXT(`NETWORK ELEMENT
TYPE`) CDOFTY 1 TEXT(`OFFICE TYPE`) CDHOUR 2 0 TEXT(`HOUR - HIGHEST
BLOCKAGE`) CDPCOF 11 8 TEXT(`PERCENT OVERFLOW`) CDUSGE 5 0
TEXT(`USAGE`) CDPCCP 11 8 TEXT(`PERCENT CAPACITY`) CDPEG 3 0
TEXT(`PEG`) CDOVFL 3 0 TEXT(`OVERFLOW`) CDTPEG 4 0 TEXT(`TOTAL
PEG`) CDHOLD 6 0 TEXT(`HOLDING TIME`) CDEQPD 6 0 TEXT(`EQUIPPED
LINES`) CDWIRE 6 0 TEXT(`WIRED LINES`) CDWKGQ 6 0 TEXT(`WORKING
LINES`)
An example of a relational database component 208 is iSeries DB2
database. The iSeries DB2 database is part of the iSeries platform
(AS400). The relational database component 208 is accessed by the
report generator component 207 described below in FIG. 2B to
generate line usage reports discussed below.
In one embodiment of the invention, the relational database
component automatically accesses the structural database component
210 to get the most current layout of equipment in the
telecommunications network and reads the corresponding line usage
information from the data collection component 202 at regular
intervals. For example, the relational database component 208 may
be programmed to read the data collection component 202 and the
structural database component 210 on a weekly basis.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that this embodiment of
the present invention contemplates the presence of additional
components and/or sub-components of the computer system, and the
components and/or subcomponents may be combined with one another
and/or separated into new components and sub-components. Those
skilled in the art will also appreciate that the information stored
in databases or tables as described in this application may be
stored in an individual database or table or may be stored in
multiple databases or tables.
Turning to FIG. 3A, a method for generating a relational database
300 is shown. At block 302 the system receives continuous line
usage information from equipment in a telecommunications network.
At block 304 the system generates a text file containing the line
usage information received at block 302. In an alternative
embodiment, the line usage information is received as a text file
and block 304 is bypassed.
At block 306 the system accesses structural database tables
containing information regarding the structure of the
telecommunications network. At block 308 the system generates a
relational database table by reading the text file for line usage
information and organizing the information based on the structural
information obtained from the structural database. The relational
database is in a formatted form such that line usage reports may be
easily generated.
System and Method for Generating Line Usage Reports
With reference to FIG. 2B a universal line usage-reporting tool 201
is shown. The reporting tool 201 is web-based and is accessible to
multiple users. The reporting tool 201 includes a report
information component 203, a relational database component 208, a
report generator component 207 and a report display component 209.
The report information component 203 contains the criteria and type
of report information used to generate the report component 207. In
one embodiment, a user selects the criteria and report type. In
another embodiment, the report component 207 is programmed to
automatically generate a specific type report at a specified time
based on pre-specified criteria. The report criteria include the
region, company, state, office/host, switch module, line unit and
time interval of usage information that a report is generated
for.
The relational database component 208 contains stored line usage
information organized based on the structure of the
telecommunications network and is stored in a format that is
accessible by the report generator component 207. The report
generator component 207 extracts line usage information from the
relational database component 208 based on the report information
of report information component 203.
The report display component 209 displays the report generated by
the report generator component 207. One of skill in the art will
appreciate that the report display component 209 may display the
line usage reports generated by the report generator component 207
in any variety of ways.
The types of reports generated by the report generator component
207 include line unit performance reports, blockage reports and
consecutive reports. An exemplary line unit performance report is
shown in FIG. 11 and breaks down lien usage information by switch
modules and line units for different central offices. The line unit
performance report includes information such as the switch type,
the region, the central office, switch module information, line
unit information, and for each line unit: the highest hourly
percent block for the last eight weeks, busy hour percent capacity,
equipped lines, wired lines, number of working lines, the highest
busy hour usage, the busiest usage values, and any load balance
activity that may have occurred or may be pending.
An exemplary line unit performance report 1100 is shown in FIG. 11.
The exemplary line unit performance report 1102 is for a switch
type 1104, region 1106, company 1108, and office 1110. In this
example, the line unit performance report is for the 5ESS switch
type, mid-Atlantic region, 56 Company, and the Dunne County
Office.
In the exemplary line unit performance report of FIG. 11, the line
usage information is divided out and displayed according to the
remote/pair gain, switch module 1120, and line unit 1122. The line
unit performance includes information including the highest hourly
percent block for the last eight weeks 1112, for the current week
1114 and the highest busy hour usage 1116. Thus, for the
remote/pair gain DUNNNCXA89A for switch module "1" and line unit
"0", the highest percent blockage for the last eight weeks occurred
on August 5th when the line units were 13% blocked. For the
remote/pair gain Buies Creek 1126 the highest hourly percentage
blockage for the last eight weeks for switch module "14" on line
unit "1" was on August 26th when the lines were 3% blocked
(1128).
An exemplary blockage report or count by week is shown in FIG. 14
and lists the number of line units in a telecommunications network
blocked per week by region. This report allows a user to see what
regions may have the highest line unit blockage and the number of
line units that may require additional equipment in order to
perform properly.
The exemplary line unit count blockage report 1400 is also a
"management report" and indicates failures/blockages. For example,
one version of the line unit count block report specifies the
number of line units blocked per week by region. The system lists
the region 1404, week date 1406 and number of line units blocked
for that week 1408. The exemplary management report displays that
the Mid-Atlantic Region had three line units blocked the week of
Aug. 5, 2003. This report is easily generated by obtaining the
failure/blockage information from the relational database component
203 of FIG. 2B and displaying it in a management report so a
manager can easily determine how many line units in each region are
blocked and where attention needs to be focused.
An exemplary consecutive week report 1500 is shown in FIG. 15. The
exemplary consecutive week report 150 shows the region, host, host
description, switch, switch module and line unit that has had
blockage reported within a set period of time.
The consecutive week blockage report 1500 displays line units with
three consecutive weeks of blockage. However, one of skill in the
art will realize that a blockage report may specify blockage for
any amount of time. The blockage report 1500 lists the region 1504,
switch 1506, host 1508, host description 1510, switch module 1512
and line 1514 unit exhibiting blockage for three consecutive weeks.
This report allows a user to determine if the same equipment has
chronic problems or if different equipment is failing each week. As
shown in the exemplary blockage report 1500, there are numerous
pieces of equipment that are exhibiting chronic problems every
week. A user or manager can quickly identify what pieces of
equipment need attention.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that this embodiment of
the present invention contemplates the presence of additional
components and/or sub-components of the computer system, and the
components and/or subcomponents may be combined with one another
and/or separated into new components and sub-components.
Referring next to FIG. 3B, a method for generating a line usage
report is shown. At block 310 the system receives a request for a
report type. Report types include performance reports, account by
week reports, and consecutive week reports and are described in
more detail below with reference to FIG. 9. With reference again to
FIG. 3B, at block 312 the system receives report criteria. The
report criteria received can include the region, company, state,
office/host, switch module, line unit and interval of usage
information to generate a line usage report for. The report type
and report criteria may be entered by a user or may be obtained
from another database or table. At block 314 the system generates a
report by searching the relational database table for line usage
information that satisfies the report criteria received. The system
then formats the report according to the requested report type. At
block 316 the system displays the line usage report.
System and Method for Displaying Line Usage Reports
Referring next to FIG. 4, a user interface for displaying a report
of line usage information 400 is provided. At block 402 the system
obtains a user log-in name and password. At block 404 the system
obtains the report type desired. At block 406, the system obtains
the report criteria to be used to generate the report. At block
408, the system displays the report of line usage information based
on the report criteria and report type received.
The following is an example of using method of displaying line
usage reports and is illustrative rather than restrictive. At block
402, a user is prompted to enter a user login. An exemplary user
login screen 800 is shown in FIG. 8. A user enters his/her user
name 804 and their password 806. The user name and password are
specific to users of the system and allow entry into the system. A
user login screen 800 is optional for entry into the system.
Referring again to FIG. 4, the system obtains the type of report
they want to receive for line usage information at block 404. In
one embodiment the system obtains the type of report from another
system or database. In another embodiment, the system receives the
type of report from a user. And in yet another embodiment, the
system prompts the user for a report type by providing report type
choices. With reference to FIG. 9, an exemplary screen of
report-type choices 900 is shown. Examples of report choices
include, but are not limited to, performance reports 904, blockage
reports 906, and consecutive week reports 908.
Referring again to FIG. 4, after the system obtains the report type
they want at block 404, the system obtains the report criteria to
be used to generate the line usage report at block 406. In one
embodiment the system obtains the report criteria from another
system or database. In another embodiment, the system receives the
report criteria from a user. And in yet another embodiment, the
system prompts the user for report criteria by providing criteria
options. Referring now to FIG. 10, an exemplary screen displaying
report criteria 1000 is shown. Criteria 1004 that may be used to
generate a line usage report include the region 1006, company 1008,
state 1010, office/host 1012, switch module 1014, and line unit
1016. Criteria that may be selected include the interval 1018 of
line usage information the user wants displayed. For example, the
user may choose to view line usage information for the last four
weeks 1020, the last twelve weeks 1022, and the last twelve months
1024.
In this example, once the user has selected the criteria they would
like used to generate the line usage report, the user selects
button 1026. If the user wants to view or enter information
regarding load balancing, the user selects the load balance notes
button 1028. Selection of the load balance notes button 1028 will
open load balance maintenance entry screen as shown in FIG. 16.
Once the user has entered the selected criteria for generating a
line usage report and selects button 1026, the system displays the
line unit performance report requested and according to the
specified criteria at block 408 of FIG. 4.
The following is an example of a user interface for displaying a
report of line usage information and is illustrative rather than
restrictive. In this example, a user selects a line unit
performance report type 904 from the report-type choice screen 900.
The system then prompts the user to enter the criteria 1004 to be
used to generate a line usage report. The user selects the Mid
Atlantic region 1106 for company "56" 1008 and the Dunn County
Office 1012. and selects an interval of eight weeks (not
shown.)
Based on this report type selected and criteria entered, the system
displays the Line Unit Performance Report 1100 shown in FIG. 11.
The report is for the Mid Atlantic Region 1106, 56 Company 1108 and
the Dunn County office 1100 showing results for the last eight
weeks 1112.
System and Method for Displaying Line Usage Details and Load
Balance Information
Referring next to FIG. 5, a system for displaying line usage
details and load balance information is shown. The system 500
includes a report display component 207, a load balance display
component 504 and a line unit performance details component
506.
The report display component 207 displays line usage information in
a line usage report for equipment in a telecommunications network.
The line usage information includes the percent overflow, usage
information, current utilization percentage, hour the highest
blockage occurred, number of calls per piece of equipment, overflow
information, number of working lines, and any other information
that relates to the traffic or usage of equipment in a
telecommunications network. Examples of report displays are shown
below in FIGS. 11 and 14-15.
The load balance display component 504 displays information
regarding activity and comments relating to balancing traffic on
equipment in a telecommunications network. The load balance
activity includes a start date and complete date for any activity
to balance lines or equipment in a telecommunications network. The
load balance activity may also include any actions taken and
comments regarding the load balance. For example, action taken to
balance the load of traffic in a telecommunication network may
include adding or removing lines or switches to the
telecommunications network. Load balance activity may also include
information regarding planned activity to balance the traffic in a
telecommunications network.
Load balance information displayed by the load balance display
component may be edited or updated by a user. In one embodiment,
the edits and/or updates are stored so that they can be displayed
to users so that the users can view load balance activity being
performed on equipment in the telecommunications network.
The line unit performance details component 506 provides details
regarding line unit and equipment performance in a
telecommunication network. The line unit performance details
component allows a user to obtain additional information regarding
line usage. The detailed information includes traffic for a piece
of equipment for every hour of the day and the number and type of
lines loaded on each unit (e.g. residential vs. business.) The
detailed information may also include the number of lines that are
`wired` in existing line unit shelves, the number of lines that are
`equipped` with line cards in the selves, and the number of
`working` lines. The line unit performance detail component 506
provides detailed information for one or more pieces of equipment
in a telecommunications network including the percent capacity,
number of overflow calls or calls blocked per hour, the PEG count
(e.g. the number of call attempts), CCS (e.g. centum call seconds
or 100 call seconds) and average holding time per call in the hour.
This allows a user to view detailed line usage information to help
solve any traffic problem that may exist. The user may select a
link to view the line usage details or the details may be provided
together with the information displayed by the report display
component 207.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiment of the
present invention contemplates the presence of additional
components and/or sub-components of the computer system, and the
components and/or subcomponents may be combined with one another
and/or separated into new components and sub-components.
Referring next to FIG. 6, a method for displaying line unit
performance details 600 is provided. At block 602, the system
displays a generated line usage report. At block 604, the system
displays any associated load balance information. At block 606, the
system receives a request for line unit performance details. The
request is be from a user selecting or "drilling down" on
information in the line usage report. At block 608, the system
returns and displays the line usage details requested. In one
embodiment, the line unit performance details are obtained from the
relational database component 208 of FIG. 2A.
The following is an example of a method for displaying line unit
performance details and load balance activity and is illustrative
rather than restrictive. With reference to FIG. 6, the line usage
report is displayed at a block 602 and associated load balance
information at block 604. With reference to FIG. 11, the line unit
performance report 1102 includes a line usage report and load
balance activity 1130. More detailed information regarding load
balance can be obtained by selecting and/or "drilling down" the
load balance notes button 1028 in FIG. 10 or by selecting load
balance activity in performance report 1102 to obtain detailed load
balance information.
FIG. 12 is an exemplary line unit load balance report 1200
displaying detailed load balance information. The load balance
report 1200 includes load balance information for switch type 5ESS
(1204), the mid-Atlantic Region (1206), the 56 Company (1208), the
Buies Creek Office (1210) for switch module 14 (1212) and line unit
1 (1214). The load balance report includes a start date (1216) and
completion date (1218) for any load balance activity or comments
made regarding load balance activity (1220). In this instance,
switch module "14" and line unit "1" had five lines added (1222)
starting on Feb. 26, 2003 and this was completed on Mar. 3, 2003.
The line unit load balance report 1200 allows the user to see a
historical reference of all maintenance and equipment additions and
removals done for a particular piece of equipment in a
telecommunications network.
Referring again to FIG. 6, a user requests additional line unit
performance details at block 606 and the system displays the
details at block 608. In one embodiment, the user selects or
"drills down" on a particular piece of equipment to see details
regarding the line usage. For example, the user selects a
particular interval for a line unit to see details regarding line
usage on a line unit at a certain time of day. With reference to
FIG. 11, a user selects the interval of August 26th (1128) for the
Buies Creek Remote/Pair Gain switch module "14" and line unit "1".
After receiving the request for line unit details for this
particular interval, the system displays the line unit details for
the selected interval at block 608 of FIG. 6.
An exemplary screen of line unit performance details for the
selected interval is shown in FIG. 13. Details for the selected
interval include the hour 1304, the percentage capacity/blockage
1306, the PEG 1308, the overflow 1310, the total PEG 1312, and
holding time 1314. The highest percentage blockage on August 26th
occurred during the eighteenth hour of the day. The user would be
able to deduce from this information what equipment may be need to
be added, moved or rearranged to solve the traffic problem.
System and Method for Updating the Structure of a
Telecommunications System
Referring next to FIG. 7, a system for updating changes to the
structure of a telecommunications system is shown. The system
includes a maintenance entry component 702 and a structural
database component 704. Information regarding load balance activity
such as adding lines, removing lines, adding switch modules,
removing switch modules, and adding or removing any other equipment
in the telecommunications network, is entered into the maintenance
entry component 702 by a user.
Once information regarding maintenance of equipment in a
telecommunications system is entered into the maintenance entry
component 702, this information is communicated to the structural
database component 704. The information regarding the structure of
the telecommunication network stored in the structural database
component 704 is updated based on information received from the
maintenance entry component 702.
In another embodiment, the addition and removal of equipment in a
telecommunications system is driven by maintenance processes of the
structural database component 704. In this embodiment, the
structural database component automatically recognizes when
equipment has been added or removed from a telecommunications
network.
For example, new lines have been added to a particular line unit to
help balance the traffic load, the structural database component
704 will be updated to reflect the new lines. The updated
structural information is accessed on a regular basis when the
relational database component 208 of FIG. 2A and when the
relational database component 208 accesses the structural
information in the structural database component and searches the
data collection component 202 for line usage information for the
equipment in the telecommunications network.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiment of the
present invention contemplates the presence of additional
components and/or sub-components of the computer system, and the
components and/or subcomponents may be combined with one another
and/or separated into new components and sub-components.
With reference to FIG. 16, the following is an exemplary load
balance maintenance entry screen 1600 and is illustrative rather
than restrictive. The load balance remarks table 1602 includes a
field for entry of the host CLLI 1604, switch module 1606, line
unit 1608 and start date of maintenance 1610. The table 1602 also
includes a remarks field 1712 and a field for entry of the
completion date of maintenance 1614. The user enters the
information in the host CLLI field 1604, switch module field 1606
and line unit field 1608 to identify the piece of equipment in the
telecommunications network. For that piece of equipment, the user
enters maintenance remarks. For example, the user enters that one
or more lines or another piece of equipment are added or removed.
The user also enters the completion date of the maintenance for the
piece of equipment.
The information input into maintenance entry screen 1600 is then
communicated to the structural database and the database is updated
to reflect this information. The information entered into the
maintenance entry screen 1600 may also be stored so that a user can
obtain information regarding maintenance in the telecommunications
network. For example, the structural database component may be set
up to store and track maintenance information entered in addition
to updating the structure of the telecommunications. In another
embodiment, the maintenance information entered is stored in a
separate database of table and is accessible to a user.
An example of maintenance information being accessible to a user a
maintenance entry inquiry screen 1700 as shown in FIG. 17. The
inquiry screen 1700 displays records in load balance remarks table.
The maintenance information contained in these records has been
entered by a user or received by another system. The records are
listed by CLLI code 1704, switch module 1706, line unit 1708, start
date 1710, completion date 1712, activity date 1716 and activity
time 1714. A user can page up or down to scroll through the
records. The records may be displayed in any order depending on
specified parameters. For example, the records in the inquiry
screen 1700 are organized according to the start date of
maintenance. In this example, the record for the CLLI position
ABGNVAAMRLO for switch module "1" and line unit "1" has maintenance
activity on Oct. 13, 2003 and the expected completion date is Oct.
18, 2003. If the user selects a maintenance inquiry record from the
list, the user can view more information regarding the maintenance
record.
For example, if the user selects the CLLI position ABGNVAAMRLO for
switch module "1" and line unit "1", a maintenance entry inquiry
screen 1800 for an individual record is provided of FIG. 18. The
exemplary record lists the Host CLLI 1814, switch module 1806, line
unit 181 and start date 1810. The inquiry screen 1800 displays any
remarks 1812 for the record, the completion date 1814, activity
date 1816, activity time 1818 and user ID 1820. Thus, a user can
view the completion date or expected completion date 1814 of the
maintenance record, the date 1814 and time 1818 information was
entered into the record and the identify of the user 1820 who
entered the information into the maintenance record.
In summary, the present invention relates to numerous embodiments.
The present invention relates to a computerized tool and method for
universal line management. In one embodiment of the present
invention a universal line usage information collection tool is
described. In another embodiment, a universal line usage-reporting
tool or system is described.
The present invention also relates to a system and method for
displaying detailed line usage information. In another embodiment
of the present invention, a system and method for updating
equipment in a telecommunications network is provided. Another
embodiment of the present invention relates to a user interface. In
still another embodiment, a system and method for updating the
structure of a telecommunications system is described.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the
preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures,
it is noted that substitutions may be made and equivalents employed
herein without departing form the scope of the invention as recited
in the claims. For example, additional steps may be added and steps
omitted without departing from the scope of the invention.
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